


The price of a laugh

by UlsPi



Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Djinni & Genies, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Says "Hmm", M/M, Magic, Soft Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Stregobor Being an Asshole (The Witcher)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:41:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28333275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UlsPi/pseuds/UlsPi
Summary: There's a reason Geralt doesn't smile all that much, if at all, and the reason is that Geralt made a deal with Stregobor in order to save Renfri. Turns out he's not the only one who made such a deal with the sorcerer.Written for the Geraskier holiday exchange 2020. Happy holidays to all.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Triss Merigold/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 9
Kudos: 94
Collections: Geraskier Holiday Exchange 2020





	The price of a laugh

**Author's Note:**

> For Beth who was generous and inspiring and gave me three great prompts of which I tried to pick one and ended up, I think, including all three in some measure. The prompts were - fairy tale, found family, Hallmark movie. 
> 
> Thank you, Beth. Hope you enjoy your gift. 
> 
> The fic is very loosely based on the children's book Timm Thaler by James Krüss.

Geralt is about six years old when his mother tells him to get into the car and drives him… somewhere. Geralt doesn't suspect a thing, nor should he. His mother is the best person in the world, they share everything, which, in hindsight, isn't the healthiest way of building a parent-child relationship, but it works for Geralt because Geralt is six and loves his mother.

She seems a little tense, a bit too stern during the drive, so Geralt doesn't ask too many questions, in his opinion. 

She stops by a large manor, tells Geralt to get out of the car, which he does because he always listens to his mother, and then she drives away. 

Geralt doesn't know what to do. Perhaps it's some sort of a game. Perhaps it's some grownup version of hide-and-seek. His mother doesn't come back, and Geralt does his best to stay calm. 

A man comes out of the manor and curses. He tells Geralt that he has to live here now. Geralt doesn't understand. 

He's a well-behaved child, though, so he listens and he complies and he obeys. His thoughts torment him - he doesn't understand what happened, what he did wrong. He misses his mother and he misses his home and his toys. 

The man who found him stays by his side all the time, offering comfort in his own way, which isn't much comfort at all, but he doesn't touch Geralt once Geralt jerks away from a touch. He introduces himself as Vesemir and introduces Geralt to two more boys, Eskel and Lambert. The first one is kind and his eyes are soft and gentle, as are his manners, although the boy is older and much bigger than Geralt. 

The second one is Lambert and he's perpetually angry. Geralt can't yet let himself be angry. He still hopes that his mother will come back.

Geralt used to laugh a lot, but now he barely even speaks. 

After a few weeks Vesemir sighs and tells Geralt that his mother won't come back, that she has given Geralt up to become a witcher. Geralt finally cries. 

"There's no reason for that, pup," Vesemir says sadly and kindly. "People give up their children for all sorts of reasons, but most of them are terrifying. I don't know why she left you by my door, but we're your family now. We'll love and protect you, we won't force you to accept us until you're ready. If you're ever ready. It's not easy, pup, it's not."

Geralt cries through the night. Eskel comes to his room and holds him through it. 

***

The Witchers are trained to hunt down monsters. They do what the police are not allowed to do. They are above the law and the law hates them for it. They stay neutral. They don't interfere. Their job is to find and destroy those whose crimes are so terrible that no court would ever deal with them. 

Geralt trains and learns. He's strong, he's resilient. He's very quiet. 

He discovers that for all the talk of neutrality, the Witchers are still bound to the government, and that sometimes the people they have to hunt down are not monsters at all. Vesemir explains to his  _ pups,  _ as he calls them, how to help such an unfortunate soul to escape somewhere else. 

There's magic in the world, Geralt learns, but it's not the kind of magic he read about with his mother. It's twisted and it's delusional. The mages are arrogant and powerful and very rare, but they do enough damage. Geralt doesn't want to deal with them, ever. 

***

Years go by. Geralt thinks of Eskel and Lambert as brothers. He wants to take care of them and protect them. Vesemir is his father in all but name. 

Geralt doesn't think about his mother, and if he does, he knows that Lambert's anger is the worst way of coping, because Lambert's anger makes him feral and vulnerable and reckless, but Geralt can only aspire or Eskel's unwavering kindness and acceptance of all things he can't change.

***

Geralt is taught to stay neutral, at least on paper, and that means avoiding love, romantic love. It doesn't seem so difficult until Geralt is tasked with hunting down a woman called Renfri.

Renfri is a terror, she's ruthless and righteous. Geralt quickly learns that she has every reason to be the way she is. She reminds him of Lambert, only she's witty and cunning and just. 

She wants to avenge herself. A mage by the name of Stregobor persuaded her homeland of the dangers that independent, smart girls might bring upon the country, so Renfri was chased away from her home, stripped of her dignity and freedom. She rose against it all and swore revenge. 

Geralt can't join her in her quest, although he longs to, but he maintains his neutrality, refuses Stregobor's offer of working together against her. Stregobor is an influential man, he's a hateful man, yet Geralt remains neutral - up until the moment Stregobor kills Renfri in front of Geralt, mocking Geralt's grief and pain. 

"Bring her back!" Geralt demands. He's furious, he's hurting, he knows he has no right to demand anything from Stregobor. However, he knows that the mages are indeed powerful enough to bring someone back from the dead. He also knows that they ask a horrible price for such an act. 

"I think I could bring her back, if you give me your smile," Stregobor says. Geralt realises that even at his smuggest Stregobor hasn't even smiled, not once. His face twitches, turns into a frightening grimace every time a situation calls for a smile or a laugh, at least, in Stregobor's opinion. 

Geralt hasn't smiled properly since the day his mother abandoned him, he doesn't think much of his looks, although he's been told he's handsome especially when he smiles, but this seems such a small price for Renfri's life, so Geralt agrees. 

He helps Renfri to flee the country. He holds her when she vows to come back and finish her revenge.

"I used to have beautiful brown eyes, you know," she says before they part for good. "Stregobor promised me that he could undo everything he had done to me for my eyes… and now they are dull and yellow…" She holds Geralt again and leaves. 

Geralt hasn't thought of Renfri's eyes as dull. They are anything but dull. They burn with anger and passion.

Yet, when Geralt looks at himself in the mirror that night, he sees that his own eyes have turned yellow too. They have always been peculiar, but now their colour is indeed dull. His hair had turned grey before he reached his twenties, so it doesn't add anything to the way he looks, or so he thinks. He doesn't care how he looks. 

***

That same night, far from all that drama, a boy is born into a wealthy family. He's a great disappointment to his father because he has children from a previous marriage, and now this newborn has more rights to his mother's substantial wealth, which was the very reason the boy's father married the boy's mother. His father isn't bad enough to suggest anything like an abortion, he's a bit fond of his wife and he's not that much of a scoundrel. 

The boy is named Julian, he has bright blue eyes and the most winning smile. He grows fast, he's clever, he's charming - before long everyone adores him. He's a pretty child, but all his fine features bear nothing in comparison to his easy charm. His brothers play with him despite their age gap, his mother dotes on him and his father realises he'd give anything for this late child of his. 

After all, his older sons have their careers planned for them - both want to join the army and don't want anything to do with being a spoilt noble. And no one in their right mind would ever think of taking anything away from Julian, who prefers to be called Jaskier, because he has great affection for flowers, the colour yellow and irony. 

Jaskier is happiness incarnate, he makes his parents love each other like they never have before, he makes his brothers' careers successful just because he wants his brothers content. 

It all falls apart one day when their estate is attacked by a mob of angry people who think Jaskier is… different. 

Jaskier is indeed different. He's happy and joyous. He's careless and stupidly brave. He's so full of love, given and taken. 

And he stands over the dead bodies of his parents and brothers when a man emerges from the crowd. He's old and stern, but then Jaskier notices his warm brown eyes and his smile… it's a smile of a person who doesn't smile much, who knows how difficult it is to find happiness… Jaskier doesn't know a smile like that and he likes it. His bright spirit needs something to cling on to and he clings to the man whose eyes seem to be stolen from someone else's face, whose smile seems to be stolen too…

Jaskier gives up his laughter to Stregobor so that his parents might live. 

He wants his brothers back too, so he agrees when Stregobor suggests taking away his easy charm. 

Jaskier's resurrected family don't recognise him. They don't chase him away but they mourn him and don't know he's right there with them. 

Jaskier leaves the next day. 

***

Geralt keeps doing his job. He retires to Kaer Morhen, that manor his mother left him by, every year for a few weeks of rest and comfort. He enjoys the time with his brothers and father. Vesemir is still calm and quiet, Eskel is still kind and thoughtful, Lambert is still angry and reckless. Geralt has all of them in him, he thinks he shares a soul with them. He's happy with them, which is the most important part, but… he can't see it.

They notice he doesn't smile or laugh even when he's sardonic and bitter, they are worried about his eyes, but they respect his unwillingness to talk about it. 

Geralt's next assignment is on board a cruise ship. There's supposed to be a very rich and influential man there. He's allegedly a mage, his dealings are shady at best and clearly sadistic at a closer look. He's a perfect target for the Witchers since his crimes can't be proven but are numerous.

Geralt can hardly keep his calm when he recognises the man as Stregobor. 

The government has changed many times during the last twenty years, and no one wants to deal with Stregobor anymore, but the old man is vicious and cunning. He reinvented himself as someone else, and Geralt can't even remember the name Stregobor has adopted for himself, because he sees it… he sees Renfri's eyes and his own smile and, somehow, the brightest, happiest laughter Geralt has ever heard, and most unnervingly, the endless charm. Stregobor is liked by everyone he speaks with, everyone adores him, but Geralt somehow only has eyes for a young musician who plays and sings in one of the ship's restaurants. 

The young man's skill is beyond doubt, his voice is sweet and comforting, his blue eyes shine brighter than a full moon - and no one even looks at him if Stregobor is present, and of course Stregobor is present every time the young man performs. 

Geralt can't understand everyone's annoyance with the youth, although he has to fight the same annoyance every time he looks at the musician. 

He learns his name is Jaskier. Geralt watches him from his dark corner. Geralt can't take his eyes off of him, because Jaskier is beautiful, he's shining shyly, he's enchanting… and every time someone notices him, they yell at him and throw stale bread at him, although there can be no stale bread in this place in the first place. 

One evening Jaskier walks over to Geralt. "I like the way you just sit in the corner and brood," he says. Geralt can't help but gasp when he looks at the man's face - he's beautiful, he's bashful - and at the same time he seems to have never experienced fear. His eyes are sad, but it might be just… just the unfortunate light. 

"You must have some review for me, three words or less," Jaskier teases. 

Geralt just looks at him. 

And then says something incredibly rude… 

"You didn't think that," Jaskier replies confidently. "No one thinks what they say to me. That's my curse, I guess."

Jaskier doesn't smile, but Geralt feels that his face is terrifyingly unnatural without a smile.

Geralt thinks that it's not necessary to smile, it's just something the world demands, but Jaskier's face needs and deserves a smile the same way Renfri needs and deserves her revenge. 

Geralt can't stop saying obnoxious things to Jaskier, but his arms and hands and lips say something different, so Jaskier… somehow Jaskier follows Geralt to his room, even though Geralt can't stop cursing like a drunken sailor, and Jaskier spends a night with Geralt, a night of pleasure and care and promise. 

"No one has done it before," Jaskier whispers, playing with Geralt's hair. "They might have been interested but they trusted their mouths too much… you put your mouth to a better use, darling."

Geralt calls him a slut when he wants to call him an angel. Geralt calls him a bitch when he wants to say  _ my sweet _ .

"It was Stregobor that did it to you," Geralt finally manages. He has learned that he can't speak of his deal with the mage, but he can definitely discuss others. 

Jaskier chokes on his words, and it's enough for Geralt to know he's right. 

"I saw you and thought… you'd know me," Jaskier admits. "I stopped trusting my thoughts… it's terrifying. But you're the only one who… who doesn't listen to their thoughts, to their own words."

Geralt bites his tongue so he doesn't insult Jaskier more and they fall asleep. 

In the morning Geralt blames Jaskier for everything bad in his life and then he's suddenly in bed with another passenger, a mage herself, called Yennefer. 

She's a smart one, so she shoos Geralt away from her bed once she's satisfied. 

"Stregobor steals things," she says in the end. "Now I have the proof and the Chapter will have his head…"

***

The Chapter is destroyed, slaughtered, Geralt learns soon afterwards. Yennefer and her wife Triss are the only survivors.

***

It's late, Geralt is drunk. He's watching Jaskier playing some background music, although his music is anything but background, not that anyone can tell. Geralt has been searching for him and looking after him. He's told himself that it's so that he can keep an eye on another survivor of Stregobor's magic, but the truth is far too pleasant and sweet to think about, so he doesn't.

Suddenly he hears a familiar voice. It comes from somewhere in the back of the bar, but Geralt follows it, because it's Renfri's voice. He turns around the corner - and sees Renfri pinning Stregobor to the wall. 

"Give me my eyes back. You tricked me and lied to me. You get back my eyes and I only wound you. You refuse, and I wound you hard enough to drag you somewhere else and force you to do so. The only thing we're bargaining here about, is my time."

Stregobor laughs brightly. That laugh would have suited Jaskier. It's his laugh after all, and his charm, that's absolutely wasted on Renfri.

"You can't harm me, girl. You can't touch a hair on my head. I'm a delight!" 

Stregobor smiles with Geralt's smile, but Geralt ignores it - he's so nauseous he can't breathe: Jaskier is a delight, Jaskier can't be harmed or hurt. It's Jaskier's charm, and oh, thank everything, that it doesn't work on Renfri. 

She pushes her knife into Stregobor's throat. 

"Alright, alright, you mad woman!" 

The air shifts, Renfri pulls a mirror out of her pocket and checks her reflection, dim lights be damned. 

"Good," she agrees. Then she cuts off the tip of Stregobor's nose and is gone. 

Geralt is too confused and surprised to remain cautious. He's stupidly relieved to have learned that Stregobor's magic can be undone. He loses his guard and then he's choking on his blood. 

Stregobor is standing over him, ridiculous with his bleeding nose and terrible, glassy eyes. "Oh, look, the mighty Geralt Rivia! Only, you've never even been to Rivia. You're a fake…"

"Sounds like you," Geralt manages. He's falling and he can't see clearly. 

Someone is waking up to him, hasty and worried. 

"Oh, and look, the long lost child of the Pankratz family! What is it, have you opened a club, you useless, miserable bunch?" Stregobor spits.

Jaskier cradles Gerald's head and looks at Stregobor. "Take my eyes," he says. "You seem to need some, because right now you look every bit like the monster you are. Take my eyes, save his life."

Geralt tries to argue, but there's only blood in his mouth. 

***

When Geralt comes to, he's met with a pair of icy blue eyes, heartless and unmoving. They look wrong on Jaskier's face, although it seems now that Jaskier has hardly any face left. 

"Hello, Geralt," Jaskier says softly. "I hope you're feeling better because we have to run. I sold my family ring to get us some money, since no one wants to hire me anymore…" There's supposed to be a chuckle, but instead there's only a frightful twitch. Geralt cups Jaskier's face, and while only curses and insults leave his lips, he's leaning up to kiss Jaskier, kiss his forehead and mouth and trembling eyelids. 

"They are looking for me, love. My family. They… because I sold my ring… and we need to run. They'll kill me thinking I robbed and killed myself… they don't know me anymore… we need to run, love."

So they run. Geralt takes Jaskier to Kaer Morhen.

***

Lambert insults Jaskier the moment he sees him, then frowns. "I didn't want to say that." 

"That's… very smart of you," Jaskier remarks. Geralt puts a possessive arm around his shoulders and spits out some more insults.

"I take it you didn't want that either," Lambert guesses. 

"We need a plan," Geralt manages. "We… I…"

He can't talk about Stregobor, but Jaskier fills in whatever he has figured out, which is a lot. Geralt wants to tell him how clever he is, how insightful, how proud of him Geralt is, how grateful… 

But all he can say is some more rude remarks.

"It's alright, love," Jaskier says. He sounds exhausted. "I… I know what you mean. I hope you do mean it…"

Geralt kisses him instead, much to Lambert's indignation.

Geralt decides that nonverbal communication is the safest way with Jaskier, so he silently offers the young man a room. Jaskier shakes his head.

"Want to sleep with you, dear heart."

Geralt bites his tongue to stop another insult. 

"You should know, Geralt… No one has seen me for so long, not even my own kin, but you have. And I have seen you. I'm staying with you now, Geralt."

Geralt kisses him again and drags him to his own room. 

***

The combined efforts of the Witchers and one musician aren't enough to figure out what they should do next. Geralt gives up on sitting and thinking, takes Lambert with him and leaves to look for Renfri, who just turns up at Kaer Morhen one day. 

It's Renfri who suggests they should bring in Yennefer and Triss.

So, here they are, pondering over countless facts and unclear statements, loaded with their stories and grief. 

"You know," Jaskier says one evening when everyone is too exhausted to even keep their heads up, "all this… magic. It sounds a lot like a djinn. We lose more than we gain, with the exception of Geralt who didn't ask for anything for himself… my selfless love," Jaskier kisses Geralt's cheek. No one can find it in themselves to be indignant, especially having insulted Jaskier every time he opened his mouth. 

Geralt just grunts. He is a selfless darling indeed and he can't let go of Jaskier, because they  _ see  _ each other when no one else does. 

"A djinn?" Yennefer asks incredulously.

"Yes. Our wishes are twisted. We don't get what we really miss, what we need. Except for Geralt, who asked for Renfri's life."

Renfri smiles and insults Jaskier and stabs the table with her dagger. 

"I really miss speaking my own mind," she says. Everybody nods. Everybody loves Jaskier and the way Jaskier cares for Geralt and the way Geralt fusses over Jaskier while spitting curses left and right. Everyone can only wonder and swoon at Jaskier when he just gets what each and every grunt from Geralt means, and reads him easily and kisses him freely. They all hate Stregobor all the more for the way Jaskier, all sunshine and loving kindness, suffers for his wish. 

So, djinn. 

"If he has a djinn," Yennefer begins, "then how did he manage to… keep it?"

"But it's clear, isn't it?" Jaskier asks. 

"It's not," Geralt clarifies. "You mean… he channels the djinn's magic? I don't see how it can last!"

"It's only one and probably the first of his wishes," Eskel says pensively. "He wished for the djinn's magic, and he's been very careful with his two remaining wishes apparently."

"So, how do we torture them out of him?" Lambert asks.

"He can be persuaded, I'm sure," Triss suggests. She's a gentle soul and has trouble believing in true evil. "There must be something else he wants, and judging from what he asked from Jaskier and Geralt and Renfri, he wants love."

"I may vomit and swoon," Vesemir says and leaves to vomit. 

"I could summon the djinn," Yennefer says. "I'll need Stregobor nearby and restrained, but I can become… a vessel for the djinn. It can't hurt Stregobor, but… it will weaken them both enough to… I don't know. Kill Stregobor?"

"I'd love to kill Stregobor," Renfri remarks. 

"How did you convince him to obey you, though?" Geralt asks. 

Renfri shrugs. "He's a coward, and I'm formidable."

Yennefer is visibly considering a threesome. 

"If I become the vessel," Yennefer continues, having decided on the threesome, "then I can try and force the djinn to do something else…"

"It's damn fucking dangerous! Not that I care!" Lambert shrugs.

"We all care," Jaskier quickly adds, "and nothing is worth a life."

"Hey, I fucked your boyfriend," Yennefer reminds.

"And? I'm his and nothing can change that," Jaskier smiles, bright and happy, the only one here who's truly happy despite everything that suggests he can't be happy. 

Geralt holds him and bites his tongue to stop himself from saying something terrible. 

"Look, my family is searching for me or someone who snatched me away. They don't recognise me. The moment I sold my ring, they were on us. They can't find us here, but I can let them find me. I doubt Stregobor will waste a chance to gloat. I wouldn't be surprised if they enlisted him to help. Let them capture me. You'll have the chance to capture Stregobor then."

"And here I was, thinking I was going to offer the most dangerous solution," Yennefer smirks. 

Triss and Geralt protest loudly, but Yennefer wants her revenge - not for the Chapter, but for being defeated - and Jaskier wants to help, not to mention he's the most optimistic idiot in the world. 

Triss and Geralt are nothing against Yennefer and Jaskier, and Eskel supports Jaskier. Lambert doesn't care, he just wants to kill Stregobor. He's promised that. 

***

Jaskier can't help laughing when Stregobor enters his cell. It's all too easy and judging by Stregobor's smug speeches, the sorcerer doesn't suspect a thing. 

"... And look, here I am, helping your family find you… I'd consider undoing my magic in the face of their grief and stupidity, but you decided to associate yourself with the Witchers… Alas. Now, I have to make you tell me where the real Jaskier is, and I might enjoy it a bit too much, if you'll forgive me."

Jaskier closes his eyes. He sees Geralt, hears his voice saying that he'll always come for his helpless, stupid idiot, that he'll never leave Jaskier alone, that when it's all over, they'll stay together and damn everything, Geralt is Jaskier's and Jaskier is Geralt's.

Stregobor doesn't have enough time to cast a spell before he's taken to Yennefer's house and tied to a bed there.

***

It hurts Yennefer more than anything else she's experienced, but it's also maddeningly good, to feel so powerful, so full of the djinn's energy. 

The djinn is lost between the bond with Stregobor and the new bond that Yennefer has created. It can only try to escape, which is difficult enough with one master, but there are two now, each with their own conflicting wish. 

Stregobor is so humiliated and scared that he forgets himself, so he spills out his two wishes, and the djinn twists them most deliciously. The old sorcerer ends up free, as he wished, but it also means free from everything that binds him, since Stregobor words his wish like that. He is free now. Bodyless and powerless, lost between the portals and haunting them.

And Stregobor is stupid enough to want revenge, and the djinn is stupid enough to obey and to twist its own desires… 

***

Yennefer inhales deeply. She looks smug and more than a little tired, not that she will let anyone see that, although everyone does, but they’re polite enough not to mention it. Even Lambert. 

"Feels good…" Yennefer moves her shoulders. Triss moves to hold her and Yennefer holds her back. 

It's barely a movement of Yennefer's hands, and then Geralt can smile at Jaskier, and Jaskier beams back at him, blue-eyed, radiant, joyous, irresistible.

Geralt has always… known he'd be like that, but now it feels like a reunion, like there were years of wandering around and looking for each other, looking for his idiot bard. 

Geralt sweeps Jaskier off his feet and into a bear hug. 

***

Yennefer wears the djinn off in a few years. She sharpens her wit and her wording and frankly gets tired of the creature. 

Geralt and Jaskier are inseparable. Geralt never lets his flower prince out of sight, Jaskier never lets his silly king Witcher get lost in whatever honourable battle he's got himself involved in. 

Jaskier's family are happy to know he's alive and well and in love. 

Triss gets mad with Stregobor haunting the portals one day and just… casts him out. She doesn't know where or how, but it works. 

Renfri becomes the queen she was born to be. She totally has that threesome. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for being here. Toss a comment to your writer, oh please.


End file.
